Champions Collide: Ian Bone vs. Corey Nelson booked for Nitro 9

Reigning Nitro welterweight champion Ian “Hitman” Bone (pictured) will make his first title defense against the newly crowned Brace champion Corey “Major” Nelson. 

Both men will need no introduction for fight fans who follow the sport locally. Over their careers, the Aussie standouts have gone into battle with some of the country’s best, and more often than not, returned with scalps to boot.

This addition to the card — which was confirmed by the promotion yesterday — will headline the forthcoming show from Nitro, on July 6th at The Logan Entertainment Centre in Queensland.

It will be twelve months since “Hitman” became the first Nitro Welterweight champion when he welcomes Nelson to the promotion after submitting Ben Mortimer with a rear-naked choke at Nitro 6. Among others, the Townsville local holds notable wins over Robert Lisita, Tony Rossini and TUF “Smashes” contestant Manuel Rodriguez.

First things first for Corey Nelson as he prepares for the opening stage of the AFC Welterweight tournament on May 10, where he will meet the undefeated Alex Volkanovski. The Sydney fighter — who has beaten the likes of James Vainikolo and the highly touted Dan Pauling — finished a resilient Tony Rossini with a crumpling knee to the mid section followed up with a barrage of punches to claim the Brace title back in February.

The other bout announced at this stage for the show will see Chris “Kewl Bonez” Morris and Julian “Julz the Jackal” Rabaud face off for the inaugural bantamweight title after beating Shannon McClellan and Jacob Mahony respectively at previous Nitro fixtures.

The card is also rumored to feature an interim middleweight title fight while current champion Dylan Andrews fulfills his promotional duties with the UFC.

Fight card to date:

• Ian Bone vs Corey Nelson – Welterweight Title Fight
• Chris Morris vs Julian Rabaud – Bantamweight Title Fight

* Photo by Penghuynh